Delhi rape: HC accepts police status report after apology

Last updated on: January 10, 2013 14:40 IST

The Delhi police on Thursday tendered an unconditional apology to the Delhi high court for not coming up with a satisfactory status report in connection with the case of the shocking gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student by six men on a moving bus in the national capital last month.

The police has also submitted a fresh report containing the details of the name of the policemen who were present at the time when the 23-year-old victim and her friend sought help. The report also says that the role of the police control room van is being examined.

In view of the public outcry over negligence shown by the Delhi police, the court had directed it to file a detailed report on the PCR vans deployed that night and what action it had taken against the cops found in dereliction of their duties.

During the hearing on Wednesday, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain criticised the Delhi police for not mentioning in its status report the names of the policemen on PCR duty in the area that night.

"Till today, you are not giving the names. What is

the difficulty? You cannot hold back the names like this. We are not happy. Earlier also, we had expressed our unhappiness, even then, you are not giving the names. What actions have you taken so far," the bench said.

It also asked why some of the top police officials in the city, including the commissioner of police, should not be made accountable for the slips in policing that night.

The court also asked why a bus with tinted glass and curtains was allowed to ply on Delhi's roads.

Dayan Krishnan, the counsel for the police, told the court that there were two PCR vans close to the site and it cannot be said that the bus in which offence took place, passed by them.

The high court had, on December 19, taken suo motu cognisance of the gang-rape incident and decided to monitor its probe by directing police to carry an investigation of "high standard".

The victim, a physiotherapy student, was brutally raped and assaulted in a moving bus on the night of December 16. She died of her injuries on December 29 in the multi-specialty Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

Her male friend, who was accompanying her that day, was also assaulted by the accused and both of them were thrown out of the bus.